Icy Waterfall
Connecticut winters are rough, with freezing temperatures and ice which accumulates early in the winter sometimes not thawing until spring. But for those who are willing to bundle up a bit, winter provides some absolutely wonderful opportunities for photography. Icy waterfalls are amongst my favorite wintertime subjects, presenting such a wonderful contrast between the blur of the fast moving water and the detail and stillness of the ice formations.
Yesterday, several members of my CT Flickr Meetup group gathered to photograph Southford Falls State Park, which is in Southbury and stretches into Oxford.
Many were new to the art of photographing waterfalls at a slow shutter speed, so this meetup posed some interesting technical challenges for them. On top of the usual slow shutter challenges, we had bright sunlight shining directly on the falls. Long exposures are quite difficult under these conditions! As we shot, we shared tips about using a circular polarizing filter or, better yet, ND filters, to achieve the silky-smooth water effects we all strive for.
Southford Falls is just 20 minutes away, so I'm there quite often, spending at least an hour and a half there every visit. For the meetup, I had initially allotted only an hour and a half because I figured the group would start getting cold and would want to head home.
Boy, was I wrong! By our meetup time, not a single person was even close to done! So I made the rounds, telling everyone to forget about the designated meetup time and shoot until they were done.
Most of the members spent a full three hours at Southford Falls. After we finished shooting, we stood around for some more photography discussion before we went our separate ways.
Even in the middle of the winter, we were able to get outside and spend three solid hours together shooting, while members shared tips and built friendships. This is what I love about CT Flickr Meetup!
